K-tel in Alliance With RealNetworks

K-tel International Inc. today announced an alliance with RealNetworks Inc. to develop and market a custom CD compilation service to be featured on K-tel's upcoming site, K-tel Express.

The record company, which is scheduled to debut its site on May 1, said the "K-tel Custom Compilation System" will allow users to choose from more than 250,000 songs and related artwork to be compiled into CDs, which are then mailed directly to consumers. It is scheduled to be fully operational by July.

The compilation system is aimed at tapping the resources of the K-tel-owned master catalog which is comprised of 3,500 music titles from an array of genres spanning the past 50 years.

"We are delighted to be working with RealNetworks on this exciting undertaking for our new on-line service," said David Weiner, president of K-tel International, in a statement. "This feature for 'K-tel Express' will provide the public with a unique and easy way to literally 'produce' their own albums."

Today's announcement marks the latest in a series of moves made by K-tel to become a player in the emerging "e-tail" market where it will likely compete with CDNow and N2K.

This week the company signed an ad pact with direct advertiser TV Media, and enjoyed a recent stock surge after it announced its new Web-based strategy.

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